Sister Cities

It took two years but Diamond Bar finally found a sibling. Sanshia, Taiwan, on Tuesday accepted the Diamond Bar Sister City Assn. Inc.'s invitation to join the San Gabriel bedroom community's modest family of 55,000 people, said Richard Callard, president of the association. Five other Chinese-speaking cities in the last two years hoped to claim Diamond Bar as their sister city, Callard said.

The cities of Agoura Hills and Westlake Village have joined in a battle to prevent a California Supreme Court decision to uphold Proposition 62 from being applied retroactively to local taxes, officials said Thursday. The proposition was approved in 1986 and requires voter approval of general and special taxes.

Ten delegates from Garden Grove's sister city of Anyang, South Korea are set to arrive today for an eight-day tour of local attractions and businesses and to attend the annual Korean Festival this weekend. Led by Anyang Vice Mayor Kwon Ho Jang, the delegates will tour the Crystal Cathedral, Garden Grove High School and city facilities during their stay. The visit marks the ninth year Anyang officials have visited Garden Grove.

The Friends of Taxco will hold a mixer tonight to celebrate Canoga Park's Mexican sister city and to introduce local residents to the West Valley Sister City Assn. The mixer will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. at at the Canoga Park Women's Club, 7401 Jordan Ave. The group will display native costumes and jewelry from Taxco, as well as a pictorial history of the Sister City program. Founded in 1963, Friends of Taxco has helped build and equip more than 20 schools in Taxco, Guerraro, Mexico.

A bit groggy after two days of gambling and partying in Laughlin, Nev., dignitaries from Oxnard's Mexican sister city shuffled into a gray conference room Friday to meet with their Oxnard counterparts. Downing coffee, bagels and doughnuts, the delegates from Ocotlan fortified themselves for the long morning of speeches and presentations to come. But just as eyelids started drooping from the usual sister city formalities and officialese, in walked 32-year-old Alex Rangel.

The city's Sister City Assn. has formed a relief fund for victims of the Jan. 17 earthquake in Kobe, Japan. Newport Beach is a sister city to the cities of Okazaki, Japan; Cabo San Lucas, Mexico; and Antibes, France. The volunteer Newport Beach Sister City Assn. is accepting donations of $10 or more at P.O. Box 10121, Newport Beach, CA 92659. For more information about the fund or other sister city activities, call (714) 720-1077 or (714) 644-3151.

Artworks from Huntington Beach's sister city, Anjo, Japan, will be on display at the Central Library and Cultural Center through this month. Five pieces have been created especially for Huntington Beach by award-winning artists. They include a painting of "wa," which represents harmony or peace; a painting of the Asuka village; a painting of the Meijigawa shrine; and a drawing of dharma, those who survive hardships.

Anastassia Titova said she and a contingent of Russian visitors brought Moscow weather to Orange with them, but she plans to take home "some of the spirit" of the friendly people they have met here. Titova was one of three teachers who accompanied their principal and 17 students from Moscow International Planet School in the Novo Kosino district to practice their English skills and meet citizens of their sister city, Orange.

The Sister City Assn. is seeking eight students and two chaperons for its student exchange program with Huntington Beach sister cities of Anjo, Japan, and Waitakere, New Zealand. Four students and one chaperon will travel as ambassadors of Huntington Beach to one of the sister cities for a two-week visit. The exchange program begins in July, when local students will host four Anjo students.

China's ambassador left Washington in a huff. The U.S. ambassador to Beijing has returned home. A Chinese general cut short his recent goodwill military visit to America. But the mayor of Shanghai is still visiting California on a trade tour next week, offering hope that even if the two nations don't always see eye to eye, at least they keep sight of certain things they have in common. "This is not a political question.